Do I need to test PH for coral growth?

[Ocelaris]

I'm a strong believer in watching pH. But a simple probe would be fine. Measure the same time every day. You can see mine peaks around 7pm and the low spot is 7am. Almost perfectly timed with the lighting (it's absolutely the tank lighting schedule). I have an outside airline, an energy recovery ventilator, kalkwasser top off, a fuge 24x7, but opening the windows makes the biggest difference (I run a larger calcium reactor also). I notice qualitatively much better growth at higher pH. But, none of those are a significant long term cost to maintain a high pH. I do what is available, and windows far and away are the best option. I got a Co2 tester even, and that just showed me that I don't have a high internal Co2 problem. I do believe in high pH being helpful, but it's as far as I go believing in magic in this hobby.

You can see in the picture the last 3 days were open window days giving me a 0.05 higher pH. So even with all the other stuff I do, windows made a big bump. It's cheap and easy when the weather is nice. Plus it's good for indoor air quality anyways.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Is that orange Hannah checker acceptable?

I've never used it. Some folks complain about it, but I cannot be sure if it is a device problem or a user methodology problem.

 

[Jupiter]

I never tested my tank’s PH in my life. My stony corals are doing pretty well. They grow (but never fast enough).

I maintain my alkalinity and calcium higher with soda ash dosed every hour during daylight to have stable and higher PH during the day.

I am curious about my tank’s PH, but I noticed from reefers with an apex how PH can change at any minute and it will probably make me cross the line into obsessively chasing numbers (which I don’t want).

Coralline algae grows fast. Would I need to monitor PH?

Another reason I don’t want to monitor PH is because there’s pretty much nothing I can do if it’s. I can’t run an airline to outside. I don’t have space for a refugium. I can’t stop myself from breathing near the tank.

Seems like a pointless endeavor to even start messing with PH test kits.

What do you think?

My 75-gal mixed reef tank has been running for five years and I've never tested the pH, but I do test the other important parameters. If they're all okay, I assume pH is in balance. I'm surprised not to have read one word about a buffer in this thread. It seems to me a buffer would help to stabilize things?

 

[Miami Reef]

Buffers aren’t good because they also raise alkalinity which can be dangerous if your alk levels are already in a normal range.

I got the PH. I calibrated it with 4.01 and 7.01 and I got a level around 8.1 PH.

I did order the 7.01 and 10.01 and will use that calibration and see what my results are.

So far it seems like my PH is fine? I did dose silicates today, but I wonder what my PH will be tomorrow without any PH altering additives.

 

[Billys_reef]

I chase pH because acros grow so much faster in higher pH. Back then I was hovering around 7.8-8 using the apex pH probe. After installing a co2 scrubber hooked to my skimmer, I am getting 8.3-8.5. My acros are encrusting and growing so much faster and alk demand increased by 2x.

 

[Miami Reef]

I chase pH because acros grow so much faster in higher pH. Back then I was hovering around 7.8-8 using the apex pH probe. After installing a co2 scrubber hooked to my skimmer, I am getting 8.3-8.5. My acros are encrusting and growing so much faster and alk demand increased by 2x.

I definitely think my PH is low if that’s the case. My growth isn’t great, but at least nothing is dying.

I did dose silicates which is supposed to greatly increase PH. I will test tomorrow with a proper calibration and without any dosing.

 

[BeltedCoyote]

Im a noob who has had 2 years to indulge in my need to research the bejeebus out of what fascinates me, and reef keeping is something I’ve wanted to do since I was a child. But I’m not an expert so please don’t take this as facts, just my understanding so far:

So I plan to test PH consistently, at least at first, until I have a good sense of the highs and lows of my tanks ph for several days to weeks (ph will fluctuate between day and night) . I figure that by knowing the range that is natural to my system, I’ll not only know what to try and keep balanced, but also what would be a big indicator to something being off.


I’m not super versed in the calcification process which is at the heart of stony coral growth, but I know ph has a big effect on how well that chemical process works. As seawater becomes more acidic (lower ph) , the chemical interactions necessary for a stony coral to build its skeleton become more and more inefficient. The more experienced reefers correct me if I’m wrong but I believe lower PH means the bonding of the calcium, magnesium, and carbonate ions in seawater becomes less and less possible/efficient.

so maybe all of this means I could potentially rule something out if there’s a crash and I’ve kept track of this. Who knows.

but yeah OP. That’s why I’m planning on testing PH. But that’s just me.

Edit: also just listed to a discussion with Dr. Tim the bacteria guy and it seems there’s some evidence that ph also influences how well the bacteria, vital to our systems, can break down the ammonia and nitrite necessary for the nitrification process. Potentially to the extent that swings in PH can cause die off of population.

 

[tonyc247]

Personally I like the PH to be as stable as possible so I guess I disagree. I have found I can keep both PH and alk reasonable stable by dosing alk 19 times a day. The few hours at the end of my brightest photoperiod i do not dose alk. I also use a reverse lit refugium which helps with PH stability quite a bit.

My personal observation is this has helped my growth. Whether that is all in my head though I have no idea I certainly did not follow the scientific method....more of an eyeball test

I also use a PH probe with an alarm. This is not so much for monitoring PH but because it tells me I probably have an issue with doser if my PH goes above 8.4. It saved me once when i screwed up and had doser higher than tank and it was siphoning alk into the tank and PH shot through the roof. Luckily i was home and alarm went off and i fixed it before any real issue.

Thanks for the feedback. I may try a PH probe to see how stable my tank really is.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I did dose silicates which is supposed to greatly increase PH. I will test tomorrow with a proper calibration and without any dosing.

Well, I wouldn't claim that. Silicate is a high pH additive, but you are not typically dosing very much or very often, so the net effect on the tank is low.

The effect is not as large as using high pH alkalintiy additives.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

Edit: also just listed to a discussion with Dr. Tim the bacteria guy and it seems there’s some evidence that ph also influences how well the bacteria, vital to our systems, can break down the ammonia and nitrite necessary for the nitrification process. Potentially to the extent that swings in PH can cause die off of population.

The first part of the sentence may certainly be true, but I'd claim it is irrelevant since no established reef tanks have a problem where that process is not moving along sufficiently, regardless of the pH. Empirical results for vast numbers of reef tanks establishes this as not a concern. Small amounts of ammonia may actually be desirable since it is more easily used by corals and other photosynthetic organisms than is nitrate.

I am super skeptical that the bacterial death by low or high pH ever happens in any normal reef tank.

 

[BeltedCoyote]

The first part of the sentence may certainly be true, but I'd claim it is irrelevant since no established reef tanks have a problem where that process is not moving along sufficiently, regardless of the pH. Empirical results for vast numbers of reef tanks establishes this as not a concern. Small amounts of ammonia may actually be desirable since it is more easily used by corals and other photosynthetic organisms than is nitrate.

I am super skeptical that the bacterial death by low or high pH ever happens in any normal reef tank.

interesting. Thanks for weighing in!

 

[Miami Reef]

I’m thinking of ditching my 2 part and going with kalkwasser instead. Only issue is that I use auto dosers to maintain my levels. Doesn’t kalk precipitate on the bottom and need to be stirred before dosing?

 

[SDK]

Properly mixed kalk is nice and clean for the most part. I dose kalk and All For Reef with two dosing heads. There is a lot of great information on the subject in Randy's article link in the sticky section of the Reef Chemisty page. Also some good videos on BRS TV about mixing and dosing kalk....

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

I’m thinking of ditching my 2 part and going with kalkwasser instead. Only issue is that I use auto dosers to maintain my levels. Doesn’t kalk precipitate on the bottom and need to be stirred before dosing?

No. Once dissolved, it should NOT be stirred unless you are making more.

 

[Garf]

I’m thinking of ditching my 2 part and going with kalkwasser instead. Only issue is that I use auto dosers to maintain my levels. Doesn’t kalk precipitate on the bottom and need to be stirred before dosing?

You may need both methods if you’ve got hard corals. You are somewhat limited to evaporation rates, just using kalk.

 

[Miami Reef]

Excellent. I ordered Kalkwasser and will make the switch.

It might take some dialing in to get the proper dosing level. Right now I dose 40ml a day of each 2 part.

Im going to mix 2tsp per gallon of water into my dosing container. What’s a good starting dosage rate?

 

[Miami Reef]

You may need both methods if you’ve got hard corals. You are somewhat limited to evaporation rates, just using kalk.

But I’m not using it in my ATO. I’m using it in my dosing pumps.

 

[Garf]

But I’m not using it in my ATO. I’m using it in my dosing pumps.

So do I, but you can only saturate it to a certain point, and can only add a maximum of what is evaporated. Unless you go the slurry approach, but I won’t. I use kalk and 2 part, and my tank is far from overloaded with stonies.

Edit - that said, if you’ve got mainly softies, you could be fine with just kalk.

 

[Miami Reef]

So do I, but you can only saturate it to a certain point, and can only add a maximum of what is evaporated. Unless you go the slurry approach, but I won’t. I use kalk and 2 part, and my tank is far from overloaded with stonies.

Edit - that said, if you’ve got mainly softies, you could be fine with just kalk.

That doesn’t make sense to me. I plan to dilute 2 tsp per gallon in my dosing container.

I think you’re confusing the ATO method with the dosing pump method. Who is restricting me from dosing more than what gets evaporated? Is it because you are worried that my salinity will get too low?

I have a 250 gallon with a lot of evaporation. I doubt my Alk needs will exceed the rate of evaporation. That seems so unlikely.

Is Kalkwasser that diluted?

How much ml (more or less) is required of kalk if I’m dosing 40ml of 2 part? Just to get an idea.

Am I going to need to fill the dosing container daily/weekly now? If so, this might prevent me from making the switch.

I have a 5,000ml container.

 

[Miami Reef]

So do I, but you can only saturate it to a certain point, and can only add a maximum of what is evaporated. Unless you go the slurry approach, but I won’t. I use kalk and 2 part, and my tank is far from overloaded with stonies.

Edit - that said, if you’ve got mainly softies, you could be fine with just kalk.

I did some research. You are right. Apparently kalk is VERY diluted. I’m going to need gallons of it to maintain my Alk and cal demands.

I’m staying with my 2 part with soda ash.